Day 2 Part 2 Taiwan Trip (Feb/Mar 2015) - Xinshe (Xinshe Castle + Mushroom Garden + Carton King Zoo) | Miyaharu | FengJia Night Market

Continuing from the earlier post....

Fourth Stop: Xinshe Castle
No.65, Xiezhong St., Xinshe Dist., Taichung City 426
Entrance Fee: NT250

During the researching process for our Taiwan trip, stumbled across this place - European castle-like place and have been rather excited to come here. I like places with nice scenery and views:) 

When we arrived, the weather had started to turn rather hot and sunny. Sun blinding our eyes and all, and the place looks rather ordinary to us. At first we were saying like how the entrance fee is expensive then the rest of the places but the place is just so-so. And with the hot weather, we kind of regretted coming to this place. But wells, since we already paid for this, might as well still explore around and take photos. It was not until we went back and look through the photos that we were shock at the beauty of it. I guess looks can be deceiving? haha. 

Loving the mysterious beauty of this place~ 

Fifth Stop: Mushroom Garden

No 2-1, Xiezhong Street, Xiecheng Village, Xinshe District, Taichung City

Deep Fried Mushrooms - NT50! We even got a mix of some Crispy Salty Mushrooms. So we get to try both:) Super nice and crispy!

Mushroom Sausage - NT35

I am not really a fan of mushrooms. Not that I don't eat. But rather I will not crave for that either. The Mushroom sausage was okay though. But I find the Deep Fried Mushrooms nice! The Mushroom sausage was okay though. However, be sure to drink lots and lots of water after having that since it's very very heaty:)

Sixth Stop: Carton King Zoo

No. 1, Lane 281, Section 3, Xitun Rd, Xitun District, Taichung City, Taiwan 407

Entrance Fee: NT200 which you can use to offset with your purchases there

Last stop of exploring the Xinshe area! 

Over here, You can get to take pictures with the world famous monuments. And something interesting about this place, is that everything is made out of cardboard!! Even the chairs in the restaurant is made out of cardboard! Interesting much? And also, be sure to also drop by their souvenir shop. You might find something interesting over there. Anyway, some photos taken there are as follows:

Picture taken at the entrance:)

Make a wish~

And so this marks the end of our tour of Xinshe! Before heading back to hotel, we went for Ice Cream at Miyaharu! 

Miyaharu

No.20, Zhongshan Rd., Central Dist., Taichung City 400

Operating Hours: 10am - 10pm

We actually asked the driver previously if he is okay to drop us there for ice cream before sending us back to the hotel which he agreed. 

But if you are planning to travel there on your own, don't worry, this place is pretty accessible based on our previous research on getting here. We just have to have backup plans in case the driver is not agreeable to drop us there or something. The place is actually quite near Taichung Train Station (3 minutes walk away). From Taichung Train Station -> Zhongshan Road -> Miyahara Eye Hospital.

Initially when my friend told me she wanted to go for this, I was thinking "huh? Eye Hospital?". But after much research, this place was actually previously an eye hospital during the Japanese occupation. And thereafter this place was renovated and converted into a store selling pastries and desserts.

But beware, don't say you have not been warned. The queue is really long! We queued for around 15 minutes or so if not wrong. 

Their Menu. 

Special Names for their Ice Cream flavours

Their CNY specials

  

Our Ice Cream! :)

After purchasing the Ice Cream, we came out and saw people gathering outside, standing around and eating their ice cream. We did the same. But as the weather was starting to get very cold with the wind blowing at us, we are pretty much shivering while we eat the ice cream! Double-coldness! One thing good is that the ice cream won't melt that soon given the cold weather. 

 And finally after a long day, we are back at our hotel!!

Photo taken with our driver! Really good experience with him around telling us about things we do not know about.

After a quick rest, we are out again to FengJia Night Market. Last night at Taichung so we just have to shop around since we did not managed to shop the day before due to the late arrival.

And the main thing we have that night is Stinky Tofu.

Stinky Tofu!

My First try at Stinky Tofu! This was pretty acceptable to me. But some people say the smelly the Stinky Tofu, the nicer it taste. Is it true? But not sure if it's stinkier than this, I dare to eat anot. haha.

Hate to say, but this was our last night spending at Taichung since we will be travelling to Taipei the next day morning:(

Day 2 Part 1 Taiwan Trip (Feb/Mar 2015) - Taichung | Xinshe (Rainbow Village + Flower Market + Lavender Cottage)

Second Day in Taiwan at Taichung

Our busy day starts early in the morning since we got a long day ahead of us!

To summarise, our schedule for Day 2 is:

1. Explore Xinshe Area (consisting of Rainbow Village, Flower Market, Lavender Cottage, Mushroom Cottage, Xinshe Castle, and Carton King)
2. Head to Miyaharu for Ice Cream
3. Back to Hotel 
4. And night at FengJia Night Market

We hired a driver, 何先生, to bring us to Xinshe area since it's rather inaccessible and time consuming if we really want to find public transport means of travelling there.

First Stop: Rainbow Village (彩虹眷村）
Lane 56, Chun'an Road, Taichung, Taiwan
Entrance Fee is free.

Pretty amazing place with all those artworks all over the place be it on the walls of the buildings or even on the pavements. And do you know all these artworks are being drawn and maintain by a 92 year old grandpa known by everyone as either Grandpa Huang or 彩虹爷爷?
Absolutely salute Grandpa Huang at his art works. Drawing requires lots of focus, patience and time. And much less drawing and painting in an outdoor setting on walls and pavements. We didn't manage to catch a glimpse of him though:( But try your luck if you happen to be visiting and see if you managed to see him when you are there!


Second Stop: Flower Market (中社觀光花市)
No. 469-13, Sanfeng Rd, Houli District, Taichung City, Taiwan 421  
Price of the Tickets to Flower Market is NT150.

This is supposed to be a Heart Shape according to our driver. But maybe should take from a higher shot that it will look like a heart? Don't think this shot looks like a heart though. But we tried our best:P

Childhood: Swings!! :)

And we get to have a picture with the piano! Act yi ge we can play:P

Really a nice place for photo-taking and a place for the flower lovers. And do you know they have different flower seasons. So depending on which month you visit the Flower Garden, you may get to see the different kinds of flowers!

The types of Flower available each month:) Picture taken from the brochure we got when we were at the Flower Market.

Third Stop: Lavender Cottage
Zhongxing St, Xinshe District, Taichung City, Taiwan 426
Entrance fee is NT200 which they will return you in the form of food/ souvenirs vouchers which you can spend when you are there:)

Do take note that if you want to see Lavender, the blooming season is from Nov-Apr! Other months from Jun-Aug, you can only see Salvia. 

We went there in Feb, so we get to see the Lavenders:)

Picture taken together with the Lavender Cottage Staff:)

Our first stop over there is to fill our stomach first. 

At a place like Lavender Cottage, you just have to try their Lavender drink isn't it? So we ordered the Lavender Ice Tea (薰衣草冰磚茶) - NT160

Do you know? Their Ice is not the the normal ice. It is lavender-flavored ice!! Something Unique.

For our mains, we order the Lavender Honey Chicken set (薰衣草蜜汁嫩雞) - NT340

They actually have this little cottage where you can use the stamps (as shown in the next picture). So if you have your itinerary or a little notebook with you, you might want to use the stamps. 

Finally reaching the Wishing Tree after climbing up the steep steps (in my boots with heels). Not those super high type. haha. Girls as always, 爱美不要命:P 
But anyways, wish that our wishes will all come true~

It's already filled with so many of the wishing leaves card! What you have to do is just choose a spot and hang yours up too:) Noticed that some people actually hang on the trees too. So up to you on choosing your favourite spot. My wishes are in this picture too!!! Spot it if you can:P

<真心，请敲两次铃>
I just have to take a picture with that:P
But no lah. It is said that after you write your wishes, proceed to ring the bell and your wishes will come true:)

Picture from the top! Beautiful isn't it? That's the reason why this place is my favourite:)

All PINK!!

  

Not to be missed when you are at Lavender Cottage - Lavender Ice Cream!! Cold against cold. Shiokness~

Besides going to the shops, you can also write a postcard and send it to your friends, family, or lover. Didn't try that since I have no idea what to write also.. haha.

To tell the truth, this place is my favourite of all the places I visited in Xinshe! Main reason due to the situation of the place which is on a hill. A great place to enjoy the nice scenery and forget all about your unhappiness - just relax and re-charge! Partly also due to the cooling weather. The weather just makes everything perfect:) I would want to go back here again in such cold weather:)

Stay tune to the second part of Day 2 in the next post!